PearlyBooks

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At eleven o'clock on the morning of the 11th November 1919 the entire British Empire+é came to a halt+é to remember the+é dead of the Great War.
During that first two-minute silence all transport+é stayed still, all work ceased and millions stood motionless in the streets. The only human sound to be heard was the desolate weeping of+é those+é overcome by grief.
Then the moment was brought to an end by the playing of the Last Post.
A century on,+é that lone bugle call+é remains the most emotionally charged piece of music in public life. In an increasingly secular society, it is the closest thing we have to a sacred anthem.+é Yet along with+é the poppy, the Cenotaph and+é the tomb of the Unknown Warrior, its+é power is profoundly modern.+é It+é is+é a response to the trauma of war+é that could only have evolved in+é a democratic+é age.
In this moving+é exploration of the Last Post's history, Alwyn W. Turner+é considers+é the call's+é humble origins and+é shows how+é its mournful simplicity reached beyond class, beyond religion, beyond patriotism to speak directly to peoples around the world. Along+é the way he contemplates+é the relationship between history and+é remembrance, and+é seeks out+é the legacy of the+é First World War in today's culture.+é +é +é +é